Exclusive Interview with Brenton Thwaites – Henry in Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales #PiratesLifeEvent #PiratesOfTheCaribbean

The adventures in Pirates of the Caribbean have continued and now we see a new face that we once wished so desperately for. Brenton Thwaites plays Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan’s son that wants nothing more than to help his father break the curse. His character Henry only wants to see his father come home so they can be a family together, things take quiet a turn for him as he adventures across the sea to find the very thing that could help his father. While in LA last week I was able to interview Brenton Thwaites who is this very handsome Austrailain native who landed the part after auditioning multiple times.

It was an honor to meet one of the few that were introduced into the legends of Pirates Of The Caribbean and I really hope to see more of him in more movies to come. We had a fun chat about what it was like on set for the first day of filming as throughout the movie. A little bit of humor of what it’s like to work with the talented Johnny Depp which after having this interview I must go to the movies and look for what he said we could plainly see. I’m so excited to share this interview with you and I hope you have as much fun reading this as I did listening to Brenton Thwaites.

To refresh your memory of what you’re in store for, check out this full trailer below.

How Benton Thwaites Scored The Role of Henry

I auditioned multiple amounts of times with Ron and Chris here in L.A., and then I met the directors at a place in Venice Beach, and then the movie got put on hold for awhile, and I re-auditioned about a year later, or a little bit more. Out there I met Jerry Bruckheimer and the producers, and then I got the part out of nowhere.

How It Was Stepping Into The Role Of Henry With Elizabeth Swan and Will Turner As His Parents

I feel as though as it was kind of easier than not having them because they provided such a backstory for my character. You know, we, we start the movie, Dead Men Tell No Tales with the boy version of my character, basically saying, you know, I believe there’s a treasure that can break your curse, and I can spend more time with you. And he says, okay, well if there is, go find Jack Sparrow. He can help you find it. And so I feel like the goal and obligation for my character have already been set, and that, that kind of gives Henry a, a lot more drive and focus for the whole movie.

Working Opposite Of Johnny Depp

It was terrifying. It’s still terrifying. It’s always terrifying because you never know what he’s gonna say or do, so you know, and it always results in humiliation for me. So it’s always- you are always, you know, entering a scene, you know, thinking this guy now is five movies worth of Jack Sparrow.

And he’s on the ball and you know, kind of irreverent and impulsive, you know. He kind of- you just anticipate what he’s gonna do and say, so that’s great because, you know, as an actor, you know, it kind of improves your acting in the sense that you’re always, you know, open and free and relaxed to go with the flow, but also pretty terrifying.

Bloopers Thanks To Johnny Depp

Listen, if you guys look closely, me and Kaya, you know, behind the scenes are just trying not to laugh. I was looking down and away, I was like shaking.

What It Meant Being A New Father With This Role

Well, it’s great being a part of Disney because as a studio, it really plays for the younger audiences, and I did a movie in 2014/2012- released in 2014 called Maleficent which something I can’t wait for my daughter to see. Pirates may take a while just because it’s quite scary, you know? Maleficent is, as well, but I know, you know, there’s moments in Pirates where I kinda even get scared. So I think it might take a while. I don’t know when maybe until next year when she’s two and Potty trained, One year at a time.

Coming In On The 5th Movie

You know, I think they did value my input as an actor as a newcomer. There were so many different characters coming into this one to make it a fresh new thing and I think all the old-school dudes really wanted to make it fresh and exciting, it’s something they hadn’t done before. So Javier coming on board, myself, Kaya, and the two new directors who- that primarily done independent films were kind of, you know, supported and encouraged on this one.

How It Felt To Be Named Breakthrough Performer of The Year

It’s great. [AUDIENCE LAUGHS] So, you know, when I first heard of CinemaCon and that I was, you know, to get that award, I had no idea what it was, to be honest. And, and I did a bit of research and looked at the guys that had received that award in the past five/ten years and kinda just went, wow, I don’t think I’m in that caliber, you know, of actor with those guys. But just to be kind of, you know, even considered or, you know, thought of in that same group of actors is really exciting.

First Day On Set

I was thinking, wow, it’s really rained, because of my first day on the set, it had been pouring for months or weeks, and the town of Saint Martin which was a farm town called Maudsland, which was about twenty minutes west of the studio, was covered in mud. They kinda used it in the movie which is really cool and dramatic and adds to the dirtiness of the pirate’s world, but I remember thinking, I’m gonna have to get some new shoes.

It’s squelching and it’s like, in an hour, you’re squelching around. But I had a scene where my character, Henry is hiding behind a pillar, and he’s spying on Jack Sparrow, and I remember thinking, wow, what a perfect way to start the movie and to see Jack Sparrow drinking rum in the middle of the street, and the whole parade of red soldiers trying to catch him.

Typical Day On Set

Typically a day on a set for me is I get picked up eight o’clock, get out of the house at seven; I run down for a quick surf, I get out of the water at eight; rush home; I’m half an hour late. So my driver speeds down the highway and risks our lives trying to get to work on time. And then I get made up and sit in the trailer for five hours, and then we start working.

Just for sets change, and every day there was something crazy happening. For this one they like to give the directors all the tools to play around with, and so we would, we would all come to work; Javier would get made up; Geoffrey would get in makeup, and we would all be ready in case they wanted to do, some improvised shot or something; they could kinda use any actor at any time. So it was a cool way of shooting, but it meant that I got better on set very quickly.

Did you bring your skateboard at all?

No, I didn’t bring my skateboard on this one. I wish I did. We were mainly in, like, rocky fields and the studio. There was a guy there- a swords master- Thomas DuPont who had a, an electric skateboard, and I tried it once, and you kind of sense the whole studio thinking, get Brenton off that skateboard. [AUDIENCE LAUGHS] I don’t care what happens, but get that kid off that thing.

Thoughts On The Amazing Visual Effects

Well, the visual effects side of things was, for this one, mostly kind of behind the actor’s consciousness, you know. In Maleficent, it was a lot of, you know, work that we would have to do with our imaginations too, to kind of be specifically creating creatures that weren’t there. On Gods of Egypt, we did the same thing, but on Pirates, we were lucky because, you know, all of Javier’s makeup; all the ghosts were there. They looked fantastic.

The sets were real. You know, they, they had beautiful set pieces that allowed us to play and feel, you know, like we were actually in the space. The CG, I guess I was surprised to see Javier’s hair, you know. We tried to play in that a little bit more, And his jacket, too. Just the way he flowed. Iit was mainly in the background, the CGI stuff which gave it this great depth of field when you watch it. But for us, we were luck that we had so much given to us on the day.

Training For The Role

Just sword fighting. I had a few hand combat fights that we more or less on the day, and the sword fighting stuff, we trained three weeks before the principal photographer. I had to do a little acting work, but I’d done it many times before, so I kind of just started right in, you know, that British RP dialect.

What He Hopes Everyone Will Take From The Movie

I just hope they’re entertained, This kind of movie with all the genres slotted into this two hour gap, it’s the kind of movie that never loses its drive and has so many action pieces, set pieces; comedic elements; romance; supernatural; there’s kind of something for everyone in this movie. So I hope everyone takes something from it and connects with the characters.

Set Piece Souvenirs?

I didn’t take any, but if this ever gets back to the producer, I would’ve liked to have taken a rowboat because of my mommy; I told her before we wrap the movie, that I would bring her a rowboat home and make a veggie garden out of it.

How many locations did you film at, and did you have a favorite location?

We shot at about five or six different locations; mainly the studios. I was talking about Saint Martins Square twenty minutes west of the studios where all the mud was. We shot there for a good month and a half, and we shot in Northern New South Wales; they had a beautiful beach, both Hastings Point for our entrance into Saint Martins for the coastal element.

And my favorite location was up on Hamilton Island, shooting out on the Great Barrier Reef. We had some days we shot at a beach called White Haven Beach which is this beautiful squeaky beach. When you walk on the sand, it squeaks which is not so good for the sound, but it’s great for effect, and it looks beautiful, and I think we had the most fun right there. Oh, Javier’s like, like a five-year-old kid as soon as he finishes a scene, he makes one trip, skipping off, jumping in the sea, playing, and fighting in the sand. It was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.

All Good Things Must Come To An End

I hope all of you really enjoyed this interview as much as I did. I really hope to see more of Brenton Thwaites play Henry in many more Pirates of The Caribbean movies! What was your favorite part of this interview? Make sure you head to the theaters and watch this epic adventure movie that I’m without a doubt sure your family will love.

Comments

He gives a really great interview! It sounds like a really cool and exciting job to be a part of this movie. I wish I could have seen some of the filming, especially in the Great Barrie Reef and St. Martins!